Name: Steph
Contact: ElementalShark86 on AIM, or PMs! Also on Plurk at elemental_shark.
Character's Name: Emil Castagnier
Character's Age: Sixteen in appearance, around six-plus months (as Emil) or ten thousand years (as Ratatosk) in reality. Slightly complicated, yeah.
Character's Class: Swordsman
3 Events That Affected the Character:
1) Destruction of the World Tree: This is an odd one to start with, especially since this is pre-Emil, but it did impact Ratatosk/Emil a lot subconsciously! Before this Ratatosk had exactly one purpose in life: do his job, including all the various parts of it. This included protecting the World Tree, and when it got destroyed he...didn't take it well. At all. As in, attempts to cope with it include trying to kill off all the humans and half-elves. Ratatosk/Emil never really learned how to cope with failure and loss, and throughout the game it shows. It's very possible, but part of why he's overzealous in protecting Marta may stem from his first failure with the World Tree and a very strong desire to do his job right this time. Of course, he also grows attached to Marta for other reasons too but that's a different story.
2) "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality": This is more or less one of the defining moments of Emil's life. This helpful advice from Richter became Emil's motto, something he honestly believes in. Because of this he was able to go out and find friends and establish his own identity as someone other than a Timid Boy, and all the way to the end-from standing up to Richter to pushing on to find a rare herb to even abstaining from suicidal urges-the line itself really does work like magic on him.
3) Discovery of his identity: As Ratatosk, no less, since Emil's identity changes about five times during the game. The question "Who is Emil and what is going on with him?" is a major part of the game, one he'd thought he'd settled after a supposed confirmation that he had Aster's birthmark, but when Richter told him he was Ratatosk this basically translated into "Yeah nope, everything you thought you knew was a lie, including your own purpose." Major doubts ensued, and even more major guilt issues on top of that! Emil had always been afraid of his increasing violence, but finding out he'd killed Aster and deceived his own friends (even if sort of unintentionally, memory loss makes everything complicated) made him take quite a few steps back in terms of character progress and it caused him to withdraw majorly, to the point where he tried to cause his own death.
Pulled From: Partway through Chapter Seven, after Mizuho but before returning to Altamira
Personality:
Emil has two personalities visually represented by a green-eyed "normal" Emil, timid and apologetic but learning courage, and a red-eyed "Ratatosk Mode" Emil, rough and ruthless but learning moderation. Whether he actually changes color IC instead of just for viewers is hard to tell at times, but I personally play him as if there are no visual cues other than posture/mannerisms. At his canon point Emil thinks this is because he's an amnesiac former researcher whose other personality is the original, but he's actually a millennia-old summon spirit who developed a human identity and two personalities due to various circumstances.
The "normal" Emil is eager and genial, taking courage from his friends' support - his motto is "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality," given to him by his it's-complicated-frenemy Richter. Courage has guided Emil ever since he heard that, starting with the very first times he took a step forward and earned himself his first friends for it. Emil likes to use it for inspiration and encouragement, both for himself and for his friends-which he really needs sometimes! After his parents' deaths months of his town's scorn took their toll on him, leaving him with a fear of confrontation that he's been getting over with his friends' help. He'd still rather avoid conflict and having to fight (physically or verbally), but if he has a goal in mind he's willing to keep pushing all the way to the end in order to achieve it.
He's never quite shaken off a tendency to apologize a lot sometimes, and can take responsibility for things he had no real control over-which can go far enough that he denies himself a normal life if he feel his crime is deserving enough and his friends aren't there to check him. Emil takes a lot from his friends; he's had a lot of problems relating to who he is, between the split personalities and the truth of who Emil Castagnier really is (amnesiac researcher? magical entity? The freaky waking dreams of his frenemy Richter killing him don't help) but his friends are always there to remind him that he is himself and he has value, no matter what. Without his friends, he believes he would be a much worse person than he is now.
Emil has his not-so-bright moments, occasionally missing the point or otherwise stumbling over himself, and he's not exactly book-smart. It's in personality and spirit that Emil shines: he's a nice, sweet kid who cares about his friends dearly, because after months of bullying Emil really appreciates the friends he's got. He's a fairly easy read to anyone perceptive enough to read him, but he can be perceptive and understanding himself as well. He judges his friends based on who they have been with him and has taken major revelations over their pasts with complete trust, though he can have his prejudices - he won't ever forgive his parents' murderer, whoever it is.
Both the "normal" Emil and Ratatosk Mode Emil are fiercely protective of Marta Lualdi, Emil's first and most constant friend. Emil originally became a Knight of Ratatosk so she wouldn't get killed; since then he's been charged to protect her, and he takes that seriously. They...do approach it a bit differently, however. The normal Emil maintains a balance of it, doing his best to keep Marta safe but mindful of other people too. Ratatosk Mode, not so much: he's extremely goal-oriented, going back to Emil's past as a summon spirit who existed for his duty, so while he's been trying to dial it down at her request Marta's safety and reawakening Ratatosk (not knowing he is Ratatosk) are his priorities over everything else.
Ratatosk Mode Emil...has his own problems. A past betrayal and the loss of the tree he guarded have left their mark on him even though he doesn't consciously remember it. Being knight to Marta gives him something new to protect, and his extremity is likely his way of trying not to fail again. This is both good and bad, as he hasn't struggled with who he is like the other Emil has-Ratatosk Mode doesn't care about any of that, focusing on Marta and the Centurions instead-but on the flip side he has his own self-esteem issues, often about how people tend to view him negatively in relation to his other self (especially Marta, since he feels so protective over her).
Aside from Marta and to a lesser extent Emil's other friends, Ratatosk Mode's not big on people: he's more cynical than the other Emil, and in this fact this has been used to highlight the difference between the two Emils on a few occasions. He didn't care much for the possibility of civilian casualties in his journey until Marta told him off for it, either, although now he's making a little effort to consider people's safety. He's actually come a long way throughout his journey, considering that before he became Emil he meant to kill off all humans and half-elves to prevent further damage to the world's mana.
He prefers to be more direct and to-the-point, but he does have moments where he can be nice-although he refuses to acknowledge it as such, because he considers it weak (possibly relating to his trust being betrayed as a summon spirit), and that won’t accomplish anything in the end. Being strong in both combat and mentality is important to him, and in his opinion Emil (who is definitely a kind person) doesn't cut it. One of the best examples of this was when he believed Richter had killed Marta and he blamed it on Emil: "If I was more powerful, I could've stopped this! If I was always me, I never would've let this happen!" Even when he decides to stop taking control outside of battle after he does a nice thing to help Marta, Ratatosk never quite trusts Emil to be strong enough to protect her. That could change, but it's a matter of whether or not Emil actually proves himself and/or Ratatosk Mode changes his standards.
Ratatosk Mode Emil takes over at will, generally when Emil is fighting and when he feels the other Emil isn't able to accomplish what needs to be done-he observes and remembers everything Emil experiences whether or not he's in control, although Emil's normal personality does not (he seems to forget after switching, and has fought control mid-Ratatosk Mode on one or two heated moments).
It should be emphasized that both Emil's and Ratatosk Mode's personalities are both Emil and both Ratatosk, just two sides of one coin. One of the major points of the game is how people don't fully realize that they’re the same and instead sometimes treat them as different people, only to get reminded that both Emils are Emil. They aren't entirely separate identities, even if there isn't always much trust between them.
Future Plans: Emil is going to stick around where his friends are and do his best to help out, probably joining Ad Libitum. There's probably going to be some interesting stuff going on with canon point differences, too, especially since he's pre-Chapter Eight and a few people in the game know some important stuff he doesn't yet. Currently I'm planning to just see where that goes, generally roll with things, and have a lot of fun!
Roleplay Sample:
He didn’t know where he was, or how he'd gotten here. Maybe something had happened, and his other self had taken over and come here? But he was alone, and that didn't seem right. Either he'd gotten separated from the others, or...well, he didn’t know what else it could be. And now that he thought of it, it was a little scary being without his friends and not knowing where he was.
Whatever this place was, it was home to a central tree that gave him some sort of strange feeling. He didn't know what told him, but he was getting the sense that it was something special.
"Is this...the World Tree?" Emil had known there was a second one out there-that Ratatosk's had been destroyed and another had taken its place-but he'd never actually seen it before.
Something nudged at his memory, but although he tried he couldn’t quite remember what it was.
But he had to keep going, wherever he was now. Emil knew that. Even if the situation made him nervous, he couldn’t stay here in this spot forever. The only way he could figure out how to get out of here was by exploring himself, and he had to do it fast. Right now in Altamira, Regal and Sheena needed help. He had to get back to the others, to make sure they would be safe.
So he plunged forward, looking around at the area surrounding him and doing his best to find an exit.
As for additional threads: does old stuff count? Because I have
this,
this,
this,
this…